Thursday, February 13, 2025

Bharath Rang Mahothsav

One of the largest dramatic collaborations in Sri Lanka set to take centre stage

by damith
February 2, 2025 1:10 am 0 comment 848 views

The University of Visual and Performing Arts Colombo (UPVA) is all ready to take on an ambitious venture with the National School of Drama(NSD) in New Delhi by co-hosting one of the largest theatre Festivals in the world, the Bharath Rang Mahothsav. This theatre Festival has been going on for nearly 24 years and is an annual theatre Festival organised by the NSD.

This year the NSD celebrates 24 consecutive years of theatre, theatre education and communal spirit of performance practice. To mark this milestone, the NSD has invited the UVPA Colombo to organise a parallel Festival in Colombo.

This theatre Festival brings two NSD repertory theatre productions and two Sri Lankan plays together with artistes, performers and audiences from both countries in a joint collaboration with the NSD – a prestigious theatre school in the world, along with the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre Colombo attached to the Indian High Commission and the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo.

The Sunday Observer spoke to one of the main organisers and the Colombo coordinator of the Festival, Prof Saumya Liyanage to shed light on the Festival and its many highlights.

What is the Festival all about?

The Festival has a long history of nearly 24 years while the NSD was actually founded very early during the 1950s, soon after India got Independence. Two schools were set up, one for theatre arts and one for films. The NSD has produced numerous theatre personalities of the likes of theatre directors, writers, designers and actors such as Nasruddin Shah, Adil Hussain, Ratan Thiam, Habib Khanmir and Hesnam Khanhelal.

The Bharath Rang Mahothsav has been a platform for many Sri Lankan artistes over the years to stage their talent on such a grand theatre stage. Even I have performed here on several occasions as a young actor.

The Festival is a month- long one where they invite different theatre groups from all over the world including Germany, America, China and Japan. There are various theatre groups, that come together and they perform, interact and conduct many workshops throughout the Festival period which runs for more or less four weeks. Although, this time it’s being held around the city of New Delhi, they have developed this Festival into a regional affair by extending its reach to other regions such as, Goa, Jaipur, Krishnaragar, Ranchi, Kathmandu and now Colombo.

How did this collaboration come about?

This year the NSD contacted us as a University to collaborate on this project because they have decided to extend the Festival beyond their shores and now this year they are having two Festivals in two cities outside the country, in Colombo and in Kathmandu. The theatre groups will come to Colombo and also perform here and go to Kathmandu. It’s very exciting but logistically it’s a complicated process.

What is the Festival program like?

Bharath Rang Mahothsav will take place from February 6 to 9. The two Indian productions will be staged on February 6 and 7 at the Tower Hall theatre starting from 6.30 pm. An opening ceremony will be held at 6.00 pm with the Indian delegates, representatives from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Director of National School of Drama will be here with actors and directors and technical staff.

The two plays to go on the Boards are Taj Mahal Ka Tendar and Babuji. Taj Mahal Ka Tendar is a successful satire of contemporary times set in the nomadic Bedu community of the Middle East in the early years of the 7th century, Emperor Shah Jahan invites the chief engineer, Guptaji and shares his dream of building a monument in memory of his late wife, Mumtaz.

After much deliberation, he comes to the conclusion that a mausoleum should be built in her memory and he wants it to be named Taj Mahal. Guptaji, a shrewd, corrupt official, entraps the Emperor in the snares of bureaucracy and red tape leading to many hilarious situations. Directed by Chittaranjan Tripathi of the NSD, it will be staged on February 6 at 3.30pm and at 7.00pm at the Tower Hall Theatre.

Babuji Directed by Rajesh Singh of the NSD, Repertory Company will go on the boards on February 7, 2025 at 3.30 and 7.00 pm also at the Tower Hall Theatre.

The hero of the drama, Babuji is a man who wants to keep his inner artiste alive along with social responsibilities in his life. His fondness for folk dance such as nautanki, destroys his family life. His wife, son, companions and society do not support him in his passion and he is pushed out of his own house. Despite this, his dedication and love for the Arts does not diminish.

The echo of the sounds of the tabla and the harmonium stays with him till his last breath. Each character of the drama represents different people and the different sectarian thoughts in society. An artiste in our society still has to struggle in life. Babuji is also a tribute to one of the most inspirational and most renowned Indian theatre personalities the late Sri B. V. Karanth.

The Sri Lankan segment of the Festival will take place on February 8, 2025 and will feature the Shakespearean classic Romeo and Juliet directed by Jayanath Bandara at 3.30 and at 7.00 pm at the Panibharatha Theatre, UVPA Colombo.

Veronica Returns (Song Bird 2) directed by Buddhika Damayantha will go on the Boards on February 9 at 3.30 and at 7.00 also at the Panibharatha Theatre UVPA Colombo. The play is centred on Veronica Jonkers who departs to the big city in brave New South Africa set on making her dreams of fame and fortune a reality.

Veronica later returns to her home town several years later stricken with AIDS and before succumbing to her fate she is determined to secure a future for her child, Mannetjie. The play takes one on a journey of hope, redemption and explores the meaning of the sanctity of life. Following the Sri Lankan show, the cast and crew will travel to New Delhi to perform at the Indian leg of the Festival.

What kind of support did the organisers have to put together for an event of such a large magnitude?

The Indian team will come to the island with a cast and crew of nearly 28 members, because of the scale of this event, I contacted the Indian Cultural House – the Swami Vivekananda Centre in Colombo. The director of the Cultural Centre is Prof. Ankur Dutta. When I told him about the event, he decided to engage with the event and support us because he knew its importance. However, we are not bringing all the productions here as it is impossible to do so. We don’t have the funds for it. The Festival is being held on such a grand scale starting on January 28 till February 16.

How will students benefit from this Festival?

It is vital to have this type of international and national engagement with other institutions to enhance our learning and teaching process. Otherwise, it is just lectures or spoon-feeding information. To break that cycle we need to have different learning processes in place. That is why we are very keen to taking on these types of projects and organise these events because our students will work as volunteers in different fields such as in set designing, costumes or other professional fields and at the same time they will interact with Indian artistes and also to get the opportunity to engage in a professional theatre setting. This is a great occasion for our students to be a part, rather than taking 50 to 75 students to India. We now have a chance to create a space for our students to interact with Indian artistes and professional Sri Lankan artistes where they can observe and learn a lot as a department.

Will this be a collaboration in the long run?

Yes, I think because I had a couple of meetings with the NSD officials. During those conversations they intimated that they wanted to continue this. At the same time, the bilateral engagement between our Institutions, the university and the NSD is vital for both parties and beneficial to both. In terms of our teaching and learning process, as a university, we teach creative arts and engaging with an Institution of this magnitude in India is vital because we can perhaps even exchange academics in the future. We can bring lecturers and professors from their institution here and conduct workshops and seminars.

At the same time we can get more exposure by engaging with their activities and maybe visit their school in New Delhi to learn more about how to develop a professional theatre wing and professional theatre school such as the NSD. So in that sense, I think they are also willing to have this engagement continually and at the same time we are happy to continue, This time we are showcasing two Indian plays plus two Sri Lankan but if we can actually bring more theatre productions here next year that would be a wonderful experience for our theatre goers not only for the University but also for the big theatre community here.

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